Volume 3, Chapter 361 – Half-Step Seventh Realm

The force of the fist and the sword qi erupted in an instant, two extreme powers compressed and colliding within a narrow space.

In that brief moment, the entire ground was heaved upward as if the earth itself had turned over.

Atop that upturned ground, only two people stood unaffected.

The white-robed sword cultivator remained rooted where she stood, not even swaying.

Chi Jingwen, sheltered under the mysterious elder’s protection, had also gone unharmed.

“ Cough, cough … What refined sword qi…”

From within the mysterious space that had been torn open at one corner, came a faint coughing sound.

A weathered voice spoke slowly, “Sword qi this refined is rare even within Lingxiao Sword Sect.”

“Heh. Although you’ve deliberately concealed the style of Lingxiao Sword Sect’s swordsmanship, and made no use of their techniques or mnemonics, the essential nature of that sword intent cannot be hidden from this old man.”

“Speak. Which elder of Lingxiao Sword Sect are you?”

Chi Jingwen, standing behind him, felt a flash of stunned suspicion cross her eyes.

Lingxiao Sword Sect? Lingxiao Sword Sect again?!

So this person was an elder of Lingxiao Sword Sect, come to avenge Lu Guan?

The talismans on her person had been given to her by Chi Xiyan. When had Chi Xiyan gotten involved with Lingxiao Sword Sect?

All that earlier fury she had shown toward Lingxiao Sword Sect… had it all been an act?

The white-robed sword cultivator did not answer the mysterious elder’s question.

Beneath the silver face guard, Lu Zhuxin furrowed her brow.

A Seventh Realm warrior?

Who was this old thing? And to think the Chi family had been hiding a force like this all along!

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No… he hadn’t quite reached the Seventh Realm yet.

He was only at the half-step between the Sixth and Seventh Realm.

With that realization, the deep furrow in Lu Zhuxin’s brow eased.

Just a half-step Seventh Realm. Given the tone of his voice, she had half expected a half-step Eighth Realm.

Who was he trying to scare?

“Heh.” Lu Zhuxin let out a quiet laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You, on the other hand, lurking in the shadows like some sort of specter. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think the Chi family had secretly been harboring a crooked cultivator.”

The weathered voice fell silent. A gaze, faint but unmistakable, lingered on Lu Zhuxin’s face guard for a long moment.

“Stubborn and unyielding. It seems this old man will have to bring you down himself and deliver you to Lingxiao Sword Sect in chains.”

Lu Zhuxin raised an eyebrow.

A half-step Seventh Realm, and somehow this brazen?

It was common knowledge that sword cultivators of Lingxiao Sword Sect fought above their rank. But half-step Seventh Realm still wasn’t Seventh Realm.

A few dishes in, and already this drunk on himself?

Suddenly, a chill passed through her. Lu Zhuxin’s brow twitched.

Something’s off. Something’s wrong.

Going by every convention of this kind of novel, a mysterious boss lurking in the background would never be this clueless about reading the room.

For him to say something like that, he either had a trump card up his sleeve, or he had absolute confidence in himself.

Something isn’t right.

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Have I ever written anything like this in the original novel?

Lu Zhuxin knitted her brow and went through her memories.

She had glossed over Chi Xiyan’s backstory of seizing the Chi family in a single sentence. There was no way she had ever described the Chi family’s background in any real detail.

Which meant the thing in front of her was very likely an original character that the Heavenly Dao had conjured on its own when filling in the background of the world.

Lu Zhuxin’s frown deepened.

Original meant unknown. Unknown meant unpredictable. And unpredictable meant uncontrollable risk.

Having reached that conclusion, she no longer hesitated.

Run!!

Her toes lightly touched the ground. The longsword in her hand shot forward in a sharp thrust, and her fingers flicked the hilt with a clean snap.

The iron sword launched from her grip like an arrow, streaking straight toward Chi Jingwen.

The weathered voice let out a furious roar, “Insolent wretch! How dare you!!”

Lu Zhuxin paid no attention to his reaction and turned to flee.

An attack from a Sixth Realm sword cultivator was not something Chi Jingwen, a Fifth Realm cultivator, could deflect on his own.

If the mysterious powerhouse wanted to protect Chi Jingwen, he would have to move to intercept it himself.

Lu Zhuxin had never actually intended to take Chi Jingwen’s life.

She had come here tonight to stir up trouble, and she had stirred this murky water more than enough already.

With her core objective more or less achieved, there was no reason to keep pressing her luck against an unknown variable.

“Stop her! She’s trying to escape!!”

From within the spatial tear, a surge of spiritual energy poured outward once again.

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The entire Chi Residence shuddered violently in that instant.

Lu Zhuxin noticed the formation energy around her shifting at a rapid pace.

The Chi family’s formation had another layer hidden beneath the one she had seen before.

A crushing pressure from heaven and earth bore down on her all at once.

This was not Chi Jingwen’s doing. This was the mysterious powerhouse’s work.

He was the true master of the Chi family’s grand formation.

And that wasn’t all. Directly in front of her, two powerful presences appeared.

Both Sixth Realm.

Layered formations. Hidden Sixth Realm experts.

This was the kind of foundation a great clan was supposed to have.

They closed in from all sides, moving to trap her within the Chi family’s formation.

A shifting formation could not be countered with the original talismans. And while sword cultivators could fight above their rank, that didn’t mean they could instantly kill several opponents of the same level.

For anyone else, this might have been the end of the road.

But for Lu Zhuxin, it was nothing. With her mastery of formations and the advantage of her Eighth Realm spiritual consciousness, she could read the movements of her enemies with ease.

Fighting wasn’t her strong suit. Running, on the other hand, was no problem at all.

After a few flashes of movement, Lu Zhuxin successfully slipped through the Chi family experts’ encirclement and broke free of the Chi Residence before the formation could fully shift, vanishing without looking back.

…

In the northern alleyways of the city, Chi Xiyan moved quickly through the narrow lanes, pulling the dark-haired girl along beside her.

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All around them, the sounds of spiritual energy and spells clashing echoed from every direction.

Far across the city, Wei Qingyu was still locked in a fierce, evenly matched battle with the wolf demon.

Chi Xiyan’s expression was grave.

She couldn’t make sense of what had happened tonight. It felt as though the entire city had plunged into chaos.

Those who wanted to capture her, those who wanted to protect her, their allegiances had flipped in the span of a breath.

She couldn’t tell which faction any of them belonged to, nor could she discern their true intentions.

The one thing she knew for certain was that tonight, she could not let herself be caught by any of them.

She had to take Chi Muxue and get out. Escaping this city was the only way to claw back even a sliver of a chance.

“Young Miss! Over here!”

A figure dressed as a manservant spotted Chi Xiyan from a distance and called out to her.

“Who are you?” Chi Xiyan turned a guarded look on him.

Catching the suspicion in her voice, the manservant spoke quickly, “Old Lin sent me to wait here and meet you!”

He looked past Chi Xiyan, puzzled. “Where is Old Lin? Didn’t he come with you, Young Miss?”

“Old Lin, he…” Chi Xiyan’s expression softened, just barely. She dropped her gaze for a moment. “He stayed behind to buy us time. He should catch up soon…”

“I see.” The manservant looked away and continued, “Young Miss, let me get you both out of the city first.”

“Tonight, Beihe Commandery is in absolute chaos.”

“Mm.” Chi Xiyan gave a small nod and reached for Chi Muxue’s hand.

“Come, Little Xue’er. Let’s go.”